Adults pay bills of £1.2M over lifetime

Brits will part with almost £1.2MILLION on household bills in their lifetime, according to a new study.

The average family will be forced to spend an eye-watering £19,187.37 every year on mortgages or rent, insurance, gas and electric.

That means over the course of the average adult lifetime of 60.3 years, they will pay out a staggering £1,156,938.41 in direct debits or written cheques.

The biggest chunk of that goes on bills - amounting to around £520.22 a month - or £6,242.64-a-year and £376,431.19 in total.

The huge cost of living means the average person has just £220.57 left after bills have been paid to use for their own enjoyment.

However, despite their huge monthly outgoings, a quarter of people admit they have at least one ‘redundant’ direct debit they haven’t yet got around to cancelling.

The study of 2,000 people also revealed one in five adults have put off switching gas or electricity companies even though they know there are better deals to be had.

David Winter, head of online electricity company Powershop UK said: “The figures revealed in this study are astonishing, it is no wonder Brits fine it hard to stay on top of all of their bills.

“Having more control over payments and breaking that cycle of apathy like cancelling unnecessary direct debits and switching energy suppliers could free up some additional disposable income to do some of the things we actually enjoy rather than paying bills.”

The study shows the ever-increasing cost of food means the average person spends around £3,790.80 a year, that’s an incredible £228,585.24 over their lifetime.

Mortgages or rent set people back £4,620.68 annually, while the average Council tax bill amounts to £1,038.20.

Car insurance will cost an average of £750.96 a year, or £5,282.89 over 60.3 years, while motorists will spend a total of £7,506.75 on taxing their vehicle.

Collectively, gas, water and electricity bills come to around £1,288 every year, and more than £77,000 over the average adult’s lifetime.

While using the mobile phone or landline will cost a further £456.72, which equates to £27,540.21.

Using the internet is another spend of £224.52 each year, while the luxury of Sky or cable is another £296.76.

Other insurances, such as buildings and contents, add another £229.92 to the huge annual expenditure.

Unfortunately, just under half of people regularly struggle to pay their bills - as such fifteen per cent have been known to cover bills with their overdraft, while 17 per cent will put them on the credit card.

A further 12 per cent have borrowed money from family or friends to cover unwanted bills and one in 20 have even taken out a loan.

But savvy shoppers are trying to reduce their bills - with 85 per cent trying to shop around for the best deals.